The Legend of Korra: "Operation Beifong"Review

This week's The Legend of Korra was a big one for the Beifong clan and probably their last hurrah as we approach the end of the series. In addition to spotlighting Lin and Opal (and Bolin!), "Operation Beifong" featured the return of Toph, whose longstanding quarrel with Lin fueled a big chunk of this episode. At the same time, there was a good deal of action here, most notably during the rescue mission. Combined, these two storylines made for an entertaining installment with plenty of heart, laughs and action.

Of course, the big reveal this week was Kuvira's laser cannon, which by the end of the episode was fully operational. At this point, Book Four isn't even trying to hide the Star Wars parallels, and that trend continued with the cannon's first official test run (à la the Death Star blowing up Alderaan). We pretty much knew from the beginning that Zhu Li was a double agent, but it was still kind of fun to see that pan out here. However, Zhu Li's gradual acts of sabotage got a little sloppy towards the end, especially when she kept the distributor pin on her person. For someone who "doesn't make mistakes," that was a pretty glaring error in judgment. (Come on, Zhu Li!)

The rescue mission itself also had a few quirks, like the fact that the Beifongs were locked away in a cave surrounded by prime, bendable earth. I get that they were trapped in a wooden cage, but it was a little strange that they weren't also tied up. Seemingly, they could have used their surroundings to break free. (I thought that was the whole point of sending Ghazan out to sea in Book Three.) Regardless, the breakout was pretty cool and featured some humorous moments -- like Wing's line, "We can't let Opal be the coolest!" and Toph warning Bataar Sr. not to call her "mother." (Poor Bataar!)

That said, I think this week's MVP was Suyin who put up a helluva fight against Kuvira. Parts of this even rivaled Su and Lin's battle in Book Three, like when Suyin armored up with that scrap metal. (So much awesomeness!) I only wish we could have seen the whole Beifong clan take on Kuvira.

Which brings me to my most irksome point and that is, after Toph came in with that earthen tidal wave (which was a killer move, by the way), why didn't the rest of the group join in to destroy the cannon and/or continue the fight with Kuvira? They had already defeated her forces (at least within the vicinity) and all together they probably could have taken her out. Weird that in their moment of triumph they would decide to flee. While most of this episode's foibles were minor gripes, this was the only one that really stuck out -- especially after Toph made such a big deal about it taking everything they had "just to get out alive." Also, while I dug Toph's line to Kuvira about giving metalbenders a bad name, I couldn't help but feel she didn't get her just revenge on Kuvira tearing up her swamp. Then again, as Toph noted later on, "At some point, you've got to leave it to the kids," which... yeah, okay.

As for the Toph and Lin of it all, I think that was one of the strongest storylines this week. For one thing, it tied up all loose ends with the Beifong family, setting things right with them once and for all. It also finally gave fans the answer to one of the show's most burning questions: Who is Lin's father? One popular theory was that it was Satoru, a Fire Nation engineer from the ongoing A:TLA comics. Another, more out-there theory pointed to -- gasp! -- Sokka as the father. However, co-creators Mike and Bryan, ever the jokesters, decided to take a cheekier route and make Lin's father some dude named Kanto. "Nice guy, but it didn't work out." "Aaaand... okay." That settles that!

Meanwhile, we got a brief update in Republic City, with Varrick and Asami presenting their designs for a new flying mecha suit. (Cool!) Also, there was a brief moment of clarity for Prince Wu, who finally (finally) came up with a good idea -- although it was somewhat undercut by his obvious and shallow motivation. But the real highlight from this B story was Korra's negotiation with the spirits and trying to get them to join the resistance against Kuvira. I thought it was interesting that the spirits were so unsympathetic to Korra's plight -- she made some valid arguments. Then again, that dragon spirit's point about Korra's plan being no better than Kuvira's was well said. Ultimately, there was no clear right or wrong here, which, story-wise, is almost always a good thing. Gotta love those shades of gray.

The Verdict

"Operation Beifong" was a success! Between awesome moments like Suyin fighting Kuvira, and Toph reuniting with Lin, this week's The Legend of Korra had a lot going for it in terms of heart, humor and action. While there were a couple of weird plot points (Team Beifong running away from Kuvira, for example), they never fully took away from the momentum of the story.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love by following @Max_Nicholson on Twitter, or MaxNicholson on IGN.